Sheridan, Hannon and Murray take 2013 titles

What a day! Once again, the annual All-Ireland Kick Fada competition was a huge success and everyone associated with Bray Emmets GAA Club can be proud of the fantastic event which took place.

In front of a large crowd, Damien Sheridan from Longford claimed the fourteenth title with the Dromard Clubman breaking the world record by three metres with a kick of 75 metres to overcome a top-class field of inter-county footballers including Kerry’s Brendan Kealy, Laois duo Ross Munnelly and MJ Tierney, Crossmaglen and Armagh stars Paul Hearty and Tony Kernan, Paddy O’Rourke of Meath, Wicklow’s Tony Hannon, Cavan’s Shane Duffy and Shane Nallen of Mayo. Louth's Sean Connolly finished second with Paul Durcan of Donegal in third place and Connolly can consider himself unlucky as he also broke the previous record of 72 metres. The international event was won by New York's Patrick Murray, who edged out Declan Traynor of London into second place. They were joined by the winners of our international competitions Stephen Feeney of London, Mark McKee from Spain and Brian Murphy representing the Canadian GAA. 2012 winner Serena Hannon from the Clan na Gael Fontenoy Club retained the Ladies title with a huge 51 metre kick beating Hannah Tyrrell from Round Towers GAA Club to second place and third place going to Geraldine Norton from Wicklow. A special mention too to Kate McKay who travelled from Canada to compete and did her home county of Down proud with a great performance. Vincent Wall, of sponsors the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), was on hand to present the various winners with their awards and also took time to officially present a set of jerseys to our Senior Hurlers.

On the day, a number of juvenile games took place which added to the atmosphere for the main event and our thanks to the players and mentors for helping to make the day an even bigger success. The Senior Footballers also treated the crowd and watching kickers to an entertaining win over Hollywood while the barbecue in the Clubhouse was in full swing. Later, the Club made special presentations to commemorate the anniversaries of two victorious Bray Emmets teams of the past: the 1963 Junior Hurlers and the 1973 Intermediate Footballers. The former players present were very well received and it was very fitting to mark these two special occasions in the Club’s history. Prior to the music and entertainment, we were treated to selected readings detailing the famous Polo Grounds All-Ireland Final of 1947, very appropriate on the day we had international kickers attend the Kick Fada event for the first time.

The Club would like to thank the many members and volunteers who manned stalls, prepared food, directed traffic, provided lifts, assisted in the Club Shop, served drinks, etc. as without your efforts, the day would not be the top class event we host. We look forward to doing it all again in 2014!

Welcome to the 2013 All-Ireland Kick Fada Championship, an annual tournament testing the skills of Ireland's best Gaelic footballers.

Since 2000, this ‘long kick’ contest has seen some of the country’s top female and male football stars travel to the Bray Emmets GAA Club in North County Wicklow to compete against one another in a test of both distance and accuracy. The All-Ireland Kick Fada competition, now in its 14th year, will take on an international flavour in 2013 to coincide with The Gathering and appropriately, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) will act as main sponsors. Competitors from Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States will be among those flying into Bray for the 14th September event while in the National All-Ireland Kick Fada competition, kickers from all over Ireland will take part in the hope of succeeding last year’s winners Damien Sheridan (Longford) and Serena Hannon (Dublin).

The rules are simple. The competition starts at the 35 metre mark, with each contestant allowed 3 attempts to kick the ball over the bar. Each contestant can kick from their hands, off the ground or drop-kick the ball. If a contestant fails to kick the ball over the bar in the 3 attempts they are eliminated from the competition. Rounds proceed with the successful contestant from the previous round kicking with the distance increased by a further 5 metres. Whoever can score a point from the furthest distance is the winner. There are separate competitions for men and women with more detailed information in the Rules section.

Registration for participants is free while there is also no admission charge for people attending on the day. The event begins at 3.00 p.m. with the Ladies Competition, followed by the Men at 4.00 p.m. Away from the action on the pitch, we will host a barbecue in the Clubhouse, followed by music and special presentations to victorious Bray Emmets teams of the past. Directions to the venue can be found here.

To register in the competition, please contact any of the following members of the Organising Committee:

Bray Emmets GAA Club is once again very proud to host the All-Ireland Kick Fada Competition. In addition to some of the country’s top Gaelic Footballers coming to Bray to compete for the title, we have a full day of events planned with the schedule outlined below. We’ll also have a barbecue in the Clubhouse from 6.00 p.m. and a number of stalls selling cakes, artwork, plants as well as a face painter and hurley-maker at the grounds. Make sure you’re there for what promises to be a great day!

U-9/10 Football: Bray Emmets/An Tochar/Eire Óg Greystones

Pitch 1

12.30 p.m.

U-9/10 Bray Emmets Kick Fada Competitio

Pitch 1

2.00 p.m.

Bray Emmets Academy

3G Pitch

2.00 p.m.

Wicklow GAA Under-12 Football Finals

Pitch 4

2.00 p.m.

Under-13 Hurling: Bray Emmets V Naomh Mearnog

Pitch 2

2.00 p.m.

Official Kick Fada Opening: Liam O’Neill, GAA President

Pitch 1

2.45 p.m.

Senior Ladies Kick Fada Competition

Pitch 1

3.00 p.m.

Presentation of Cheque to Crumlin Hospital

Pitch 1

3.45 p.m.

Senior Mens Kick Fada Competition

Pitch 1

4.00 p.m.

Presentation to Kick Fada Champions

Clubhouse

5.30 p.m.

Senior Mens Football: Bray Emmets V Hollywood

Pitch 1

6.00 p.m.

Presentation to 1963 Hurlers and 1973 Footballers

Clubhouse

7.30 p.m.

Readings (Cavan V Kerry - Polo Grounds New York 1947)

Clubhouse

8.00 p.m.

Music and Entertainment

Clubhouse

8.15 p.m.

Spain Kick Fada Final 2013 – Sunday, 8th September, 2013

Congrats to Spanish Winner Mark McKee and we will see you in Bray on 14th September!

UK Kick Fada Final 2013 – Sunday, 1st September, 2013

The British final was held yesterday (01/09/2013) and was won by

Stephen Feeney

Club: Crawley Brighton Gaels

Home Club Drumkerrin Leitrim

Occupation Primary School teacher

A big thanks to Crawley-Brighton Gaels for organising this competition

Kick Fada Hall of Fame 2013 – Tuesday, 27th August, 2013

Bray Emmets GAA Club are delighted to announce that former Mayo star Willie Joe Padden is this year’s inductee into the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) Kick Fada Hall of Fame. At a ceremony in Croke Park on Tuesday, 27th August, Padden received the honour in the company of previous Hall of Fame winners including Jimmy Keaveney and Mickey Whelan of Dublin and Mick O’Dwyer and Donie O’Sullivan of Kerry.

Willie Joe Padden is a former Gaelic footballer who received two All Stars awards and represented Mayo in the 1989 All-Ireland Final, a game which they lost to Cork. His son Billy Joe Padden also played for Mayo and Armagh at inter-county level. Born in Belmullet on 6th February 1959, Padden started playing Gaelic football at the age of 11. His talent was evident from a young age, so much so that he played Minor football for Belmullet GFC aged 14! By the time was 16, he had already begun playing Senior Club Championship for his hometown club and not surprisingly, he was called into the Mayo Minor panel that same year. In 1977, the year in which he turned 18, he played for Mayo at Minor, U-21 and Senior levels, including captaining the Mayo Minor team to a Connacht title. A year later, he lined out in a National Football League final against Dublin in Croke Park. During his playing career, which ended with his retirement aged 34, Padden won one Minor Connacht title, one U-21 Connacht title and five Connacht Senior titles. With his club Belmullet GFC, he won various honours, which included a County League and two Gaeltacht Championship medals. Padden received many personal accolades for his time in the green and red of Mayo, culminating in All Star awards in 1985 and 1989. He was also named Mayo Footballer of the Year twice and Mayo Personality of the Year in 1990. Considered to be one of the finest footballers to have played for Mayo and spoken about in the same breath as Tommy Langan, his legendary status in the West was cemented when he was voted 4th best ever Midfielder in the Irish Independent newspaper.

More competitors announced – Monday, 26th August, 2013

Damien Sheridan (Longford)Current Dromard and Longford Number 1 and Winner of the Kick Fada in 2010 and 2012

Ross Munnelly (Laois)Represented Ireland in the International Rules Series and winner of Leinster Championship with Laois

Tony Hannon (Wicklow)Hollywood sharpshooter who played for the Garden County for 16 seasons

Declan Traynor (London)Between the sticks for London in their fantastic championship run and subsequent first ever Connacht Final appearance this year

Conor McGraynor (Wicklow)Up and coming star of DCU and Wicklow football who plays his club football with Avondale

"The International "KICK FADA" competition is being held in Bray Emmett's grounds on the Saturday of the All Ireland Football Final. The all Britain final is taking place at the Hawth, Crawley in conjunction with the annual Crawley Irish festival, All Gaelic Football kickers are invited to participate, each competitor will have three attempts at each distance with the winner being the one with the longest and most accurate kick. The winner will receive a flight ticket to participate in the International event at the end of September

The competition will start at 12.45 on the Gaelic pitchFurther details are available from John Nolan 07956317492."

Past Champions return - Tuesday, 20th August, 2013

The DAA Kick Fada will have two former winners vying to come out tops in this year's competition which coincides with The Gathering in Bray Emmets on Saturday September, 14 (3.0).

Four time winner and record holder with a kick of 72 metres, Mark Herbert (Kildare), has regained fitness after a three year lapse andis gunning to win back his crown. "It is ten years now since I last won the Kick Fada in 2003 and I would like to reclaim the title this year," he said ahead of the big event. Mark is heartened that for the first time in a long while he has been able to practice injury free. "I hope to turn up in good shape and will certainly be going all out for victory," said the Kildare man who won the inaugural competition in 2000 and the subsequent three competitions.

Also declaring his hand this year is former Offaly netminder Padraig Kelly, who had the distinction of winning back to back titles in 2004and 2005. "I have retired from playing but I still train with the local club and am in good shape. I would like to complete a hat-trick of titles before I get too old to try," said the Shamrocks clubman who on his day has the ability to effortlessly kick the ball a huge distance.

Dublin Airport Authority Kick Fada – Saturday, 14th September, 2013

On Saturday, 27th July, Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain launched the 14th annual All-Ireland Kick Fada competition which this year will take on an international flavour to coincide with The Gathering and appropriately, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) will act as main sponsors. Ó Briain, star of BBC shows such as ‘Mock the Week’ and ‘The Apprentice: You’re Fired’ and a former footballer and hurler with Bray Emmets, was in attendance at Croke Park for the three Round 4 Football Qualifiers and took time out form his hectic schedule to assist the Club launch the promotional campaign for what promises to be the biggest competition in the contest’s history so far.

The National All-Ireland Kick Fada competition, the longest running event of it’s kind in the country, will see kickers from all over Ireland take part in the hope of succeeding last year’s winners Damien Sheridan (Longford) and Serena Hannon (Dublin). In addition, this years DAA Kick Fada is being expanded to include an international competition as part of The Gathering 2013 with champion kickers from Britian, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States among those flying into Bray for the 14th September event. Competitors of any level are welcome to register for the event for free while there is also free admission for people attending on the day.

Bray Emmets GAA Club, in conjunction with the DAA, will also be revealing the identity of the next inductee to their Kick Fada Hall of Fame next month. Previous winners include Jimmy Keaveney (Dublin), Mick O’Dwyer and Donie O’Sullivan (Kerry), Billy Morgan (Cork), Brian McEniff (Donegal) and Frank McGuigan (Tyrone).

The Club wishes to acknowledge the efforts of Frances Stephenson, Gary Prunty and Tom Walsh for making the launch such a success and to thanks the juvenile players and parents who attended the Croke Park event.

Rules of the Kick Fada Competition

The competition is open to all current GAA members over the age of 18.

The object of the event is to find the longest yet most accurate kickers of a standard GAA football.

The winner of the competition will be the contestant with the longest successful kick.

A successful kick is deemed to be one where the ball crosses over the bar and between the posts prior to touching the ground.

The ball used will be standard Size 5 for men and Size 4 for ladies.

Each kick will be taken from a pre-determined marked distance from the target.

The kick may be taken from the hand or from the ground.

Players may use a tee if they so wish.

The taking of a kick by each remaining contestant as a specific distance will be called a 'round'.

There will be a maximum of three rounds per distance.

Once a contestant has achieved a successful kick they will be deemed to have qualified for the next round and will not be required to take a further kick at the current distance.

Each contestant will tak a kick in turn until all remaining members of the group have completed an attempt at the current distance.

After a maximum of three rounds at a particular distance the distance will be increased by a pre-determined number of metres and a new round will begin for all successful kickers.

If a contestant fails to make any successful kick at a particular distance they will not go forward to the next round.

In the event of no contestant achieving a successful kick in a round, there will be a sudden-death playoff of all contestants who qualified for that round.

The winners of the competition whill have the choice of continuing within the rules, to establish the longest successful kick and attempt to set a new record.

The decision of the Kica Fada Event Co-ordinator will be final in the event of a dispute.

In 2012, 19 men and 22 women competed in the competition. The Kick Fada record, which stands at 72 metres, was achieved by four time champion Mark Herbert from Kildare. Suzanne Hughes from Ballyboden St Endas GAA Club holds the all time female record of 52 metres from back in 2001.

As part of the Kick Fada, famous GAA stars and legends of the past are inducted into the "Hall of Fame"